Forever Mine
by JuweWright
Summary: Post Hogwarts. Draco and Hermione are a couple, a fact that is accepted by everyone except for Ron & Pansy. Although there has never been much love between the Slytherin girl and the Gryffindor boy, they bond over their mutual aim: To destroy Hermione's and Draco's relationship for good. Then, something turns out wrong and everything just goes pear-shaped.
1. Chapter 1

"Are you ready yet?"

"I'll only be one more minute."

"You said that half an hour ago."

"Well, now I mean it."

"You also said that half an hour ago, after I reminded you, you had been in there for nearly an hour. Seriously what is it with women? We are only going to Luna's place for thanksgiving dinner, there's no need to spend hours in the bathroom. It's not a white tie event."

The door opened to reveal their enormous bathroom. Hermione had used an expanding charm on it, because she needed more shelves to fit in there and because she considered the bathtub too small. Draco had thought the shelves were unnecessary; the bigger bathtub was a huge improvement though.

Hermione came out. Her cheeks were flushed with her usual pre-going out-nervousness and she was fumbling with a streak of hair that she had deliberately pulled out of the neat bun at the back of her head.

"So… what do you think?" she asked self-consciously stepping from one foot to the other.

Draco thought that he was a lucky man indeed to be the boyfriend of such an amazing, beautiful and clever woman. Especially beautiful. Where had she got that blue dress from? The dark silk was tight around her upper body, accentuating her silhouette and her slim waist and the skirt was falling down to her knees in several layers. She was wearing high heels and just a hint of make-up.

Draco still remembered the first time when she had left him speechless. It had been their fourth year and when she had shown up at the Yule Ball he had been awestruck. It was one of Pansy's favourite tales. He had heard her tell it to at least a dozen people. She had been drunk of course, because Pansy only followed her instincts when she was smashed. She would never have admitted to be jealous of Hermione Granger in public in her sober state. Nor would she have acted in any way that suggested she envied them their happiness.

Pansy usually put it bluntly when she was intoxicated and her version of the story went as follows:

"And there we are, on our way to the Great Hall, me in my new ball gown and darling Malfoy in his tux – have you ever seen him in a tux? It's unbelievable that he can be even more attractive, but seriously… So yeah, we are walking and suddenly he just stops dead and I ask him, what's up and he doesn't answer but is just staring at that girl. And I think 'Who is she? I've never seen her before.' and suddenly I hear him whisper 'Granger'. I didn't even recognize her, but he was all star struck. Didn't admit it though, you know, her being a Mudblood and all."

Draco covered the distance between himself and his girlfriend with a stride and pulled her close. She smelled of raspberries and roses with a slight touch of vanilla. For Draco it had become the smell of home. They had been through a lot during the last two years and sometimes he still wondered how they had pulled through and stood strong against all the people who had told them, there was no way for their love to remain. He buried his nose at the side of her neck.

„I think", he murmured, „that you are the most beautiful, enchanting Mudblood I have ever met, Granger."

She shoved him away, eyebrows raised.

„You know you should just stop doing that."

„What?"

„Calling me a Mudblood."

Draco leaned back against the wall crossing his arms.

„I have called you Mudblood ever since I first met you and I have been delighted to call you my Mudblood for a while now. And I have noticed you don't find it offensive. You blush, when I call you that, Granger."

She blushed even more and he noticed the nervous finger movements she always got, when she was nervous. Gosh, she looked gorgeous in that dress. He checked his watch and sighed inwardly. There was no time left to just throw her on the couch, rip that dress off and celebrate the – according to the Daily Prophet - „most unbelievable relationship of all times". They had to get going if they didn't want to face the roth of Luna Scamander and – worse – the roth of Ginny Weasley who had promised her friend to help her with the cooking and had lately developed a striking resemblance to her mum when it came to scolding people for being late.

„It's just", Hermione went on checking her handbag, „that you might accidentally say it in public one day. And other people might find it offensive."

Draco gave a short laugh.

„As if I cared what other..."  
>„But you should! And you do. I know you do. You always did. Don't try to pretend you're the self confident, super arrogant dick, darling, I have known you since we were kids, remember?"<p>

She gave him a peck on the cheek and sniffed.

„New aftershave?"

„Yeah. What do you think of it?"

„Disgusting. I'll get your old brand in Diagon Alley when I pick the books or college up tomorrow."

She took the Floo Powder Jar from the mantelpiece opened it, threw some of the substance into the open fireplace and stepped into the green flames, shouting the name of the Scamander's home. Draco followed her as quickly as he could and felt the familiar twist in his stomach as the Floo Network directed him to his destination.

It only took a couple of seconds ere he landed on a particularly colourful hearthrug right on top of his girlfriend who had just been about to get up.

„Hmm, I could stay here all day", he murmured in her ear, resting his head on her chest listening to the familiar heartbeat.

„Malfoy, GET OFF ME!"

„Malfoy, stop raping my best friend and help us hunt down the garden gnome that stole Ginny's apple pie!"

Draco stood up and grinned when Harry Potter stepped up to him, to give him a quick welcoming hug.

„All right, mate?", the former Gryffindor asked. Draco nodded.

„Fine, let's go then. Luna fears if Ginny finds out she might decide to use a Bombarda spell on the new hedgerow to scare all gnomes off for eternity."

„Where's Ginny?", asked Hermione, giving Harry a big hug.

"Playing hide and seek with Teddy and keeping him from riding on our broomsticks again. He already broke a vase earlier on."

The small comfortable living room they had landed in was so clearly inhabited by Luna Scamander née Lovegood that none of the friends ever could suppress a smile when they came to visit. There were several unmatched armchairs, a huge grandfather clock that showed the moon phase instead of the time and in a pot on the windowsill grew something that looked a lot like gigantic violet radishes. Next to the pot there was a fat fluffy black and white cat that made Hermione utter a cascade of strange meowing noises.

They headed out into the garden where they found Ron and Fred standing on opposite sides of a small laurel bush, wands ready to strike.

"Hey Hermione darling", Fred sang, waving his free hand. "We're in need of some ideas here. So I welcome your brain to this illustrous gathering. And hey Draco, your mental capacities are also very appreciated."

"Hey Fred", Hermione beamed also pulling out her wand. Draco just nodded and asked, looking around the lawn: "Where's Angelina?"

"Couldn't come. Has a match against the Carpathian Gargoyles tomorrow and there's no chance getting her off the Quidditch Field. The Gargoyles beat the Nottingham Nightmares one-hundred-twenty to thirty last time. She refused to get out of bed for a week after that."

Hermione grinned.

"So did you do all the stuff around the household alone then?"

Fred and Angelina shared a flat and it was usually a mess, because neither the twin nor his girlfriend were particularly good at cleaning or tidying things.

Fred shrugged and winked.

"Bugger the household. I decided to stay in bed as well."

"Hey Hermione", murmured Ron from behind the bush, sporting a sour look. Draco wasn't surprised he did not even get a glance from the youngest Weasley brother. If anyone was a really bad loser it was Ronald Bilius Weasley. At least he had stopped muttering swear words every time they met. That was a big improvement.

They caught the Garden Gnome when it dashed out from the laurel bush in a desperate attempt to reach the main hedgerow. The poor creature got stunned and stupefied at the same time and decided to limp away quickly after they had taken away the still untouched dish from it's motionless hands.

Luna and Rolf showed up soon afterwards, hovering a huge table in front of them which was laden with loads of delicious-looking dishes.

"I thought we'd eat outside", said Luna smiling brightly at everyone. "Oh, thank you Harry. So you caught the little Gnome after all. Where are Ginny and Teddy?"

Harry shrugged.

"Haven't got the foggie... aaaah."

Just at that moment a broom had swerved out of the door, steered by a boy of about three years, who clearly enjoyed having almost decapitated his Godfather. A split second later a second broomstick followed, a furious Ginny Weasley on it, her red hair flying behind her like a veil. She chased Teddy down in no time and – not really gently – unmounted him from Harry's Firebolt.

"So", she fumed. "That means no Chocolate Frogs for a week and no visit to auntie Angelina for the next month."

"But auntie Ginny!", the boy exclaimed.

"Don't 'auntie Ginny' me, young man. Sit down, eat some pumpkin soup and if I ever catch you on Harry's broomstick again, I will override all the rules and just transform you into a toad... or a ferret", she added as an afterthought when she spotted Draco and Hermione.

Draco laughed with all the others, remembering when Mad Eye – or rather Barty Crouch Junior who had pretended to be Mad Eye for almost the entire school year – had punished him for trying to jinx Harry. It seemed so long ago. When he remembered the boy from fourth year, it was an entirely different person from who he was now. But then he had been that person once and it had taken a lot of wrong turns to finally find his way here.

_Hermione was his saviour in the months after the war. He had been confined to Malfoy Manor with his parents while the trials were held that would decide over the future of the Death Eaters. There had been nobody to talk to and nobody to share his thoughts with until – one day – Hermione Granger walked down the lane from the main gate as if nothing had ever happened here to make her want to forget this place and never enter it again. His father left the room with a disgusted sniff when she entered the entrance hall, but Narcissa was incredibly civil, asked the girl to sit down and conjured up a cup of tea for her. _

His mother had stayed throughout that first meeting between him and the Muggle born girl and acted as a catalyst for their conversation. Nowadays she frequently visited them in their small house at the outskirts of London. Lucius never visited. He felt his son had betrayed all the believes of his ancestors.

"You have to understand", Narcissa often said with a sad expression on her face. "He has been indoctrinated from his earliest childhood years on and he has lived with his believes for such a long time and never ever questioned them. He will come round some day. But it might take a couple of years."

_Hermione's intention was utterly noble. She was willing to forgive and to make friends with her former enemies if they were willing to do so as well. They had found out they actually weren't that different if you left the family background aside. He had always known she was incredibly clever but he was still surprised she had read all the books he had read. At some point they found out that the Sorting Hat had considered Ravenclaw for both of them but then decided to put Hermione in Gryffindor and Malfoy in Slytherin instead._

"_I guess it just felt … what I would become", Draco said looking at his hands which were playing with his tea cup, an old gold rimmed piece of china that probably had been handed down from mother to daughter over generations. _

_He felt the urge to smash it, but suddenly Hermione's hand touched his. It was the first time she ever touched him._

"_You know, Harry once told me the Sorting Hat took that long to put him into Gryffindor because it was considering to sort him into Slytherin. He said he just kept thinking he did not want to go there and so the hat finally gave in. I guess you wanted to be in Slytherin because you were taught it's the best house and the one that your family had been in. The hat does not know where you will be going. It only sees a glimpse of who you are and – seriously – who we are at eleven is not really the final version of our character. It sees all the possibilities and it tries to find the best solution, but if it is undecided it will listen to your wishes. I was thinking that I would love to be in Gryffindor rather than in Ravenclaw, because I had always been the clever one, but I wanted to be brave as well. I guess the hat just heard that and decided it would give me a chance."_

_Draco stared at her slender fingers that still rested on his wrist, then he slowly looked up to meet her eyes which were fixed upon him with an expression of honesty and trust that overwhelmed him._

"_You're the bravest girl I know", he said with a smile. _

Dinner was delicious and the conversation was light and happy. At some point, Harry got up and carried Teddy, who had fallen asleep, inside to make him a bed on the sofa. Draco wondered whether Ginny and Harry planned on having kids of their own. They did a great job with their Godson although they were both still very young.

When the sun set, Luna conjured up a dozen balloons in shades of orange and yellow that gave of a warm light and floated above their heads in slow circles. It was a peaceful sight and Draco thought that there could not be much more happiness in this world than being around friends knowing that the most beautiful girl of all times sat next to you. The only thing that was slightly annoying was Ron staring at him as if he was about to jump across the table and strangle him.

When Hermione and Ginny started nodding off, they all decided to head home. They thanked the Scamanders for their invitation and went inside. Harry got out a contraption that looked a bit like something Draco had seen in a Muggle car once. It was a small seat with straps on it that would hold Teddy in position while they flew home.

"By Merlin, Harry, that's a really cool idea", said Hermione enthusiastically.

Her cheeks were flushed from the tiredness and the wine and in the dim light of the yellow floating balloons, she looked so adorable it made Draco's heart ache. One should think, that feeling of being completely infatuated with someone would wear off after a while, but in his case it only seemed to grow stronger with each day he spent in her company.

They watched the broomsticks vanish into the night sky before returning to the fireplace. Fred had also floo-ed to Luna's place and was the first to step into the green flames after boxing Draco in a friendly way and hugging Hermione so tightly she couldn't breathe any more. A thought appeared in Draco's mind that it would be a close call between Harry and Fred if Hermione had to choose a best man for their wedding. He shook his head to get rid of that idea. He must be really tired indeed to contemplate a marriage. They had only been together for two years. That was way too short to...

"Good bye Ron", said Hermione tensely, awkwardly hugging her ex-boyfriend ere he stepped into the flames as well.

Finally, it was their turn to return home. They landed on their own light grey carpet and were greeted by Crookshanks, who demanded to be fed.

"Will be back in a second", Hermione whispered, brushing Draco's neck with her lips and off to the kitchen she was to open a tin for Cat King Crooks.

Draco fell onto the sofa with a sigh and closed his eyes. It was late and the evening had been fun. The food had been good and the wine even better and without further ado the former Slytherin boy drifted off and was fast asleep when his girlfriend returned into the living room five minutes later. She smiled, waved her wand whereupon a blanket appeared and slowly covered the sleeping man. Hermione bent down, kissed him on the forehead and extinguished the lights with another wave of her wand before heading off to the bedroom.

"Sleep tight", she whispered softly. "I love you."


	2. Chapter 2

BANG!

The cupboard door crashed against the wall.

SMASH! It banged shut again.

"Good morning Ronald."

BONK!

"You know, the mug didn't do anything, you don't need to bang it on the table as if you wanted to murder it."

Pansy Parkinson was sitting at her office desk, a steaming mug of coffee in her hand. Her black leather boots were resting on the table right next to her keyboard. She looked relaxed. As relaxed as someone could look who always sported the I-just-crawled-out-of-a-crypt look. Her hair was dyed black and pinned to her head in a fashion that looked both messy and as if you needed at least an hour to make it.

She wore dark red lipstick, black eyeliner and a dress that had a lot of black lace and leather on it.

"Ronald Weasley, stop staring at me, don't bang any more doors and don't break that mug. Grab yourself some coffee and get cracking. We've got a case of enchanted hedgerows in Kensington."

"And why exactly is that our problem?"

"Because they are the hedgerows in a public recreation area and Muggles have been injured. Not that I actually give a damn..."

She sneered, pulled her feet off the table and stood up to lead the way down the corridor. Ron followed half a step behind. How exactly Pansy Parkinson had ended up in the Obliviator headquarters which meant dealing with Muggles a lot was beyond anyone's grasp. She was good at her job though. Much better than Ron. She was quick and she was discreet.

They took a floo connection to a Ministry-controlled chimney close to the site. It took them about half an hour to obliviate anyone who had seen the hedgerows moving and biting people. There were several other wizards around. Some healers had taken on the wounds that the enchanted greenery had left behind in arms and legs and the guys from the Improper use of Magic Office were fighting with Ron's dad from the Misuse of Muggle Artefacts office, who was in charge. Before Mr Weasley spotted him, Ron knelt down behind one of the hedges that were perfectly immobile and non carnivorous again. He pulled his colleague down next to him.

"Ask!", he demanded with clenched teeth.

Pansy stared at him.

"Excuse me?"

"Ask me about last night", he elaborated. "About the dinner at Luna's."

"Oh", Pansy lifted a brow. "That was yesterday? That explains the horrendous mood you were in this morning. So, how did it go?"

"It was pure torture. I can't believe she is still serious about dating that git."

"He's not a git and they're not dating, they're living together. But otherwise spot on. I don't know what Draco sees in that nerdy Mudblood either."

Ron decided not to get into a row with Pansy Parkinson about who was a git and who was nerdy and whether the term Mudblood should still be used by people who had a history of being over-friendly with Death Eaters. Instead, he breathed deeply and said, in a calm voice:

"We need a plan."

Again, all he got was that blank expression. She used it to annoy him. She knew exactly what he was talking about. She had a picture of Malfoy and Hermione (one of the ones that had been printed by the Prophet back in the days when they had been news) in her desk and when she thought nobody was looking, she pulled it out and scratched over it with her green-varnished fingernails.

"Bloody hell, Pansy, don't play the fool. We agree that the relationship between Draco Malfoy and Hermione Granger is unnatural and creepy and disgusting. You and me both hoped they would break up but they didn't. So – we are in need of a plan to stop this nonsense."

She thought for a moment.

"We might break them up, but that doesn't mean we'll ever get them back", she said. "And – and I will probably hate myself for talking to you about this – I want Draco back. I want him to suffer, I want him to bleed, and then I want him to crawl over my doorstep and into my bed, that's what I want. And I know you want Granger to come back to you as well. You're still obsessed with that girl."

They looked at each other for a while, then they nodded simultaneously.

"I'll make a plan", said Pansy. "Let's get back to the Ministry. I want to finish the paperwork on this before lunch."

_Two Weeks Later_

Hermione felt horrible. The jinxing seminar was really draining her energy. She had always been quite good at spells, but this seminar was so exhausting. She probably looked horrible as well, as her practice partner had landed a few pretty heavy blows and she'd ended up head first in a pond as the result. She had dried her hair with her wand, but although she was the smartest witch of her generation, she still had not figured out how to tame her curls without a proper Muggle hair dryer.

Draco found it hilarious that they lived in a flat with plugs and that some of the stuff his girlfriend owned still worked with electricity. He just didn't understand the concept. She had once caught him out when he had examined the electric toothbrush her parents had given her for her birthday. It had been adorable to watch, like a child with a new toy. He had been furious for a second when he had seen her face in the mirror after a couple of minutes but his anger had dissolved quickly when he realized she was not laughing because she was making fun of him but because she liked what she saw.

"Oh dear, you look dashing", came Draco's voice from the living room. He had come home earlier than usual and was reading the Daily Prophet while a teapot was hovering next to him in the air, ready to refill the cup he was holding. "Is that a new look? Stormy-sea-hair?"

She flicked her wand and had one of the cushions from the sofa hit him straight in the face.

"Oh, we're in a mood, aren't we? What happened?"

"A pond happened. I didn't see that jinx coming."

Draco stood up and walked over to her. He buried his hands in her hair, placed a quick kiss on her head and pulled her close. Hermione relaxed into his embrace and sighed.

"How's your day been then?", she asked.

"Not too bad. Theo is coming round later."

She stiffened immediately. If there was one person she hated more than Pansy Parkinson whom she already despised very much, it was Theodore Nott. That scumbag had managed to avoid any prosecution for being part of Voldemort's squat. Having been pretty much the same as Draco – with the small difference of Theo never having got the Mark inked on his forearm – he should have at least been interrogated but somehow he had never ended up in front of a court. He lived in a ridiculously old huge house with half a dozen house elves to serve him and a Squib woman to do the Gardening. He did not make any effort to conceal he had not learnt anything from his parents at all. Draco had convinced her only once to come with him to visit his old Slytherin friend and she had left half way through dinner because the only alternative had been smashing a plate full of pumpkin pie into that smug princeling's face.

"I am gonna ask Ginny whether I can come round for dinner then", she said. "Just have to get my hair back to normal first."

She was already pushing past Draco but he held her back.

"Darling, he's not coming until eight. You don't have to rush off. And don't be angry with me. He invited himself over. Wants to talk about work."

He looked at her with puppy-dog eyes and she relented.

"Keep the cat away from him. He's a bad influence on any living creature around him."

Draco chuckled.

"You're kind of cute when you're angry. You know, a little part of me would love to ask you to stay just to see you go all frantic and hex him in the worst way imaginable, though that would cost me my job."

She laughed and finally made it into the bathroom, where she had a look at the mess on her head. Good Lord, that was worse, than imagined. She started brushing the bushy curls. Draco leaned in the doorway, his arms crossed. He seemed to be contemplating something. A couple of times he started as if to say something, but then relaxed again. Finally, he hit the door with his flat hand.

"Damned. This is so wrong. I should probably do it the old-fashioned way. Dinner, candle light, some classical music. But we've had that kind of stuff so often that it wouldn't even be special. And... I don't know why but I feel I need to..."

He hesitated and then strode into the bathroom hugging her from behind. The mirror reflected their faces. Her skin was freckled, his porcellain-pale. He was a little bit less than a head taller than her, so he always had to stand on his toes to be able to rest his chin on her head. She had become used to the picture of them together. She loved how they seemed to fit and not fit at the same time.

"Hermione Granger", Draco whispered, his voice hoarse. "My dearest Mudblood. I want you to marry me."


End file.
